


Floriography

by raykkenoha



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Community: hp_nextgen_fest, Dancing, Flowers, Harry Potter Next Generation, Hogwarts Seventh Year, M/M, Mutual Pining, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Yule Ball, you might need to see a dentist after reading this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-07
Updated: 2016-11-07
Packaged: 2018-08-23 17:25:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8336431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raykkenoha/pseuds/raykkenoha
Summary: All Scorpius wants is to go with Albus to the Yule Ball, and everyone is aware of that, except Albus.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to the mod for running this fest! Thanks to wonderful [enbysenshi](http://enbysenshi.livejournal.com/) for hardcore betaing this, thanks to [K](http://archiveofourown.org/users/drcommalfoy) for choosing the title and proofreading this, and thanks to [B](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Fangirl383/pseuds/Fangirl383) for helping in such short notice, I love you guys! [josephinestone](http://josephinestone.livejournal.com/), I loved your prompt and I really hope you enjoy this fic!

The sun was high in the sky, but its light wasn’t enough to warm Scorpius. He put another heating charm around him while he waited for Albus to bring the food and the blankets.

It was the first clear autumn Saturday of November so they decided to have a picnic on a whim. Albus was going to take a while Scorpius mused as he laid down on the magically warmed grass to enjoy the sun while it lasted. His sunlight was quickly blocked by a shadow towering over him. He opened his eyes and sat up, looking up to meet the expectant faces of two fifth years, Lily Luna Potter and Hugo Weasley.

“Um, hi, Lily, Hugo,” he greeted them with a small nod.

“Hey there.” Lily grinned, sitting down across from him on the ground and pulling Hugo down with her. She and Hugo kept staring at him and the silence was becoming very awkward.

“Congrats on winning the last match against Hufflepuff,” he said to Hugo. The boy blushed, running a hand through his frizzy hair.

“Thanks,” Hugo murmured. “I’m a bit scared of our game against Gryffindor, though. They’ve won the House cup for the past couple of years, and their team is pretty strong,” he said after a while.

“I’m sure you Claws can beat them,” Scorpius said.

“You should be scared, we’re gonna beat your asses,” Lily bragged, punching Hugo playfully on the arm.

Scorpius laughed and Hugo crossed his arms sulkily.

“Anyway,” Lily said, rubbing her hands to warm herself up. “Hugo and I were wondering if you’d like to go to the Yule Ball with us.”

Scorpius blinked. He glanced from Lily’s determined face to Hugo’s faint one.

“Um,” he said, frowning slightly. “As friends?”

Lily nodded, and Hugo belatedly did the same, not really looking into Scorpius’s eyes.

“Er, Lily, I’d love to,” he started, adjusting the beanie on his head to have something to do with his hands. “But I kind of want to go with someone else, and,” he said, biting his lip, “I haven’t asked them yet so it wouldn’t be nice to say yes to you guys and then change the plans if they accept.”

“Oh,” Lily nodded understandingly. “It’s okay. I hope you manage to invite them.”

Hugo, who looked way calmer now, smiled at Scorpius and said, “We can help you, if you’d like?”

“Help him with what?”

Scorpius, Lily and Hugo turned to look at Albus, whose cheeks were red, probably from the exertion of having to bring all the stuff from the castle. Scorpius was about to say “nothing” when he noticed that instead of Levitating the blankets and the basket, Albus had piled everything on his hands. 

“Aren’t you a wizard?” Scorpius teased, taking out his wand to help Albus set things up on the grass. The red of Albus’s cheeks darkened and Scorpius shook his head, laughing.

“You guys joining us?” Albus asked the two fifth years, who were also laughing at his expense. 

Lily and Hugo glanced at Scorpius, who smiled and nodded his assent.

“Sure!” Lily exulted, producing two more sets of plates and cups, and started to rant about how Rose and Fred were exhausting the Gryffindor quidditch team with their excessive training.

+

Scorpius was studying in his usual corner of the library when Fred Weasley casually sat across from him on the table. It was unusual, but had happened once or twice in the course of the seven years they'd known each other, mostly because Fred was looking for Albus or for his twin sister, who was a Slytherin.

“Hey, Scorps,” he greeted when Scorpius didn’t acknowledge him.

“Hello, Fred,” he said, not looking up from his assignment. “Albus is in class right now, and last time I saw Roxy she was sucking her girlfriend’s face off.”

“Ugh.” Fred groaned. “I didn’t need that mental image of my sister.” Scorpius snorted, and Fred reached over the table and held Scorpius’s hand in his. “I’m here to talk to you, actually.”

Scorpius looked up, frowning, and found Fred smiling, no, _smirking_ at him. Scorpius felt his cheeks heat, and swallowed.

“Y-you are?” Scorpius felt his hands start to sweat.

“Yep.” Fred’s thumb caressed the back of Scorpius’s hand. “I was wondering,” he glanced away, almost nervously, before turning to face Scorpius again, “if you’d like to go to the Yule ball with me?”

Scorpius’s eyes widened. He opened and closed his mouth several times before taking his hand out of Fred’s hold and rubbing his neck awkwardly.

“Um, eh,” he tried to say. Fred’s brown eyes were focused on him and Scorpius had to look away before letting him down with a muttered: “Sorry, I can’t.”

“Oh,” Fred said. “Do you have a date already?”

Scorpius felt his face getting redder.

“Um, no, but—” he tried to say, peering up to meet Fred’s eyes.

“Oh, it’s okay, man,” Fred said, smiling earnestly. Scorpius had to wonder if he wasn’t just asking Scorpius to the ball out of pity. “You’re saving yourself for a special one,” he winked, then he got up and ruffled Scorpius’s hair. “See ya ‘round, Scorps.”

“See ya,” Scorpius said weakly, watching the back of Fred’s Gryffindor quidditch robes as the boy strutted out of the library. 

+

Charms was admittedly one of Scorpius’s favourite classes, and he was very good at it, if Professor Chang’s praises were anything to go by. He had just successfully finished the class assignment—performing _Orchideous_ non-verbally—and was arranging his flower crown over a table when someone bumped his shoulder.

“Malfoy,” Rose said, grimacing at him— _or, wait, is that a smile?_

“Rose, hi!” He smiled at her, like he usually did. (He had had a crush on her for a while during fourth year, and as embarrassing and fruitless as it was, by the end of the year he had gotten over it, but he couldn’t stop being polite to her.)

“You going to the Yule Ball?” She asked, and her grimace-smile widened the tiniest bit.

“Er, yes, I guess,” he said.

“Do you have a date?”

“N-not yet, no,” he muttered, glancing at Albus who was still practicing the non-verbal spell.

Rose opened her mouth, then closed it and shook her head.

Scorpius felt a warm weight settling itself over his shoulder, and he turned just in time to see Albus beam as he settled his chin over Scorpius’s neck.

“I did it!” he said, dangling his flower crown in Scorpius's face.

Scorpius rolled his eyes, leaning back into Albus as the boy almost shoved the crown into his face. Albus laughed, loosening his hold on Scorpius's shoulders to arrange the flower crown on the top of Scorpius’s head.

Scorpius huffed, but he felt his cheeks burning and his stomach dropping with the domesticity of Albus’s act.

“Yellow camellias, pink roses and gardenias?” Rose observed, raising an eyebrow at Albus who promptly blushed.

“They look nice,” Albus mumbled, and Rose chuckled.

Scorpius frowned, looking from one to the other. He was about to ask what that meant when Professor Chang told Albus to put his flowers with the others on the table. Once everyone had finished their task, she started teaching the class a new spell.

+

Roxanne approached him during Potions class, while Albus was fetching the ingredients for their shrinking solution.

“Hey, Scorpius,” she said, giving him an overtly-friendly smile.

Scorpius almost frowned, this was unusual. His father always said Slytherins didn’t go around giving friendly smiles to people, not even to their housemates. This girl wanted something from him.

“Hey, Roxy.” He smiled politely.

“So, I’ve heard you don’t have a date for the Yule ball,” she stated. “And a friend of mine was wondering if you’d like to go with her.”

“Huh?” Scorpius muttered eloquently, feeling bewildered. Roxanne stared, waiting for him to process the information. Scorpius shook his head. “Thank you, Roxy, but I’ll have to decline your offer.”

“So you’ve got someone to go with you to the Yule ball, then?” she asked. Scorpius’s eyes darted to Albus, who was leaving the storeroom with what they needed floating around him. “Oh, did Albus ask you to be his date?” she asked innocently. Too innocently. Scorpius narrowed his eyes.

“Why do you want to know?” he hissed.

“I’ll take that as a no, then.” She grinned and her eyes sparkled with mirth. “Why don’t you ask him?”

Scorpius opened his mouth to answer, but he didn’t know what to say. Albus was already too close, so he just glared at Roxanne until she went away.

+

 _Thank Salazar Albus is so good at Potions_ , Scorpius thought as he rushed out of class.

As soon as Albus noticed Scorpius was completely unfocused, he took the lead and did the potion by himself, only sparing worried glances in Scorpius’s direction from time to time. Scorpius was sure Professor Thomas had also noticed his lack of motion during the class but decided to disregard it since it was such an uncommon occurrence.

When the class ended, Scorpius ran to the Prefect’s bathroom and started pacing, trying to organise the flow of thoughts in his mind.

“Well, okay.” He stopped pacing and turned to the mirror, “Salazar, I’m a mess.”

He splashed some water in his face, then dried it with a spell. He put his hands over the sink for support and looked up into his own eyes in the mirror.

“Right, so… um, Al, you’re my best friend and I know this might surprise you but I have been in love with you for a while and—” He took a deep breath. “I was wondering if, well, if you don’t have a date already, because if you do then you can just ignore everything I said and—” He balled his hands into fists. “What I’m trying to say is, do you want to go to the Yule Ball with me?”

His face was all red and his breathing was ragged, and that had been only him talking to himself in the mirror. How lame was that?

Someone cleared their throat and Scorpius’s body was immediately filled with horror.

“Oh, my fucking Salazar Slytherin,” he cursed quietly, closing his eyes. He held his breath before he turned to face the intruder.

It was Louis Weasley, a Slytherin fifth year and a cousin of Albus. A smirking Louis was standing in the doorway, his pale blue eyes sparkling mischievously. Scorpius felt another chill run through his body.

“I was actually supposed to ask _you_ that, you know?” Louis said, striding forward until he was in front of the mirror beside Scorpius’s. He ran a hand through his gleaming blonde hair appraisingly. He tied it in a messy bun, showing off his black earring and making the stray hairs frame his face perfectly.

Louis was a perfect balance of pretty and punk; Scorpius had to wonder how that was even possible. Louis used a spell on his face, then contemplated it from several angles before he deemed it satisfying and turned to face Scorpius.

“So, I’m sensing that you weren’t practicing to ask me to the Yule Ball, were you?” he mused. Scorpius shook his head, flustered, and Louis sighed. “I don’t need to ask you then, since you’re already planning on asking someone.”

“Yes, no need to ask me.” Scorpius nodded. “I’m sure you have lots of…” He frowned, looking for the right word, “ _Propositioners_?”

Louis chuckled. “I have a date already,” he admitted, and Scorpius couldn’t decide if it was a trick of the light or if Louis’s cheeks were really flushing.

“Then why—”

Louis waved a hand dismissively. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

Scorpius blinked, confused. Louis left the bathroom.

+

Scorpius had only one close friend other than Albus. This friend was a Ravenclaw called Niko Zegher. They became friends in sixth year, when Scorpius decided to sign up for Alchemy classes and didn’t manage to convince Albus to sign up with him. Niko said he’d only started talking to him because he looked ‘ _all alone and mopey without Potter_ ’. Scorpius liked to believe it’s because the class didn’t really have many people in it and Niko was charmed by Scorpius’s good looks and acumen.

After their friendship strengthened, they started talking to each other outside of classes and in their other shared classes. Niko was nice and wasn’t a relative of Albus, which meant Scorpius could go on and on about his gigantic crush on his best friend.

Scorpius was on the process of extracting Chizpurfles out of his Crup’s fur when Niko dropped on the ground next to him, holding a Crup in his lap and smiling. 

“You finished cleaning it?” he asked, even though the answer was obvious. Niko was probably the most dedicated student in Care of Magical Creatures.

“Yup.”

Niko made a show of rubbing his cheek against the Crup’s fur to show it was clean and soft. Scorpius wasn’t sure if the purr he heard after that came from Niko or from the Crup. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to know either.

“So,” Niko said, adjusting the Crup in his lap and started petting it. “Do you have a date for the Yule Ball?”

Scorpius sighed, holding his Crup still and turning to Niko, “I don’t, and sorry, I don’t want to go with you.”

Niko raised an eyebrow, amused.

“I wasn’t asking, I already have a date,” he clarified. “I was just curious.”

“Oh. Sorry.” Scorpius felt his cheeks burn and Niko snorted a laugh, eyes gleaming as Scorpius’s face got even redder.

“Am I interrupting something?” Scorpius heard the teasing lilt in Albus’s voice. He wondered if it was possible to die of too much embarrassment.

“No!” he squeaked. Niko doubled himself with laughter, disturbing the poor Crup on his lap.

Albus sat down beside them, letting his Crup accommodate itself on his lap.

“What were you guys talking about?”

“The Yule Ball,” Niko promptly answered while Scorpius was still recovering his composure. “I’m going with Fred, your cousin.”

Scorpius’s eyes widened. He wondered when did they meet, since Niko had never mentioned Fred at all. He only told him he was crushing on a Gryffindor quidditch player who had invited him to the Yule Ball _a month ago_. How could Fred have invited Niko a month ago when last week he was inviting Scorpius to the Yule Ball?

Scorpius frowned, then a light went on in his brain. They were planning something. That was the only explanation for all the Weasley family to have asked him to the Yule Ball. _Salazar_ , how had he not known? He had to resist the urge to slap himself in the face for being so oblivious.

“...Ah, I’m going stag,” he heard Albus say. When he peered up his eyes immediately locked with Albus’s. “I have no one to go with me.”

Scorpius felt his throat go dry.

“Scorpius doesn’t have anyone to go with him too,” Niko chimed in.

“Oh, he doesn’t?” Albus asked, eyes sparkling with something Scorpius couldn’t make out.

Scorpius licked his lips and shook his head.

“Well.” Albus moved closer. “We could go together, couldn’t we?”

Scorpius’s eyes widened. He almost swooned when he noticed the slight reddening of Albus’s cheeks. He felt overwhelmed and happy and in shock. All his feelings probably showed in his face, if Niko’s muffled chuckles were anything to go by.

“We can go just as friends,” Albus added dejectedly after a few beats passed, and Scorpius realised he still hadn’t said anything.

Albus was turning away and _no_ , Scorpius couldn’t lose this opportunity. 

“What if I wanted to go as more than friends?” Scorpius asked impulsively. He felt his face heating once again.

Albus turned to him again. The smile he gave him was bright enough to lit up his whole face. Scorpius was sure he was swooning now. He was about to pull Albus into a hug when his damned Crup started jumping excitedly and licked his hand.

+

On the fatidic day of the Yule Ball everyone seemed on edge.

Vesper, one of Scorpius’s dormmates and one of the Slytherins who was on the organising committee, woke everyone up at around eight with his desperate screams. He was on the verge of a heart attack because one of the frogs from the Frog Choir had disappeared. They had to find it before seven, since the Frog Choir was part of the Yule Ball’s opening ceremony.

Scorpius raised to a sitting position on his bed. Albus, who was already awake and dressed up, perched himself next to Scorpius.

“Morning, Al,” Scorpius murmured, winding his arms around Albus’s shoulders for a hug, nuzzling Albus’s neck and inhaling the woodsy and flowery scent that was uniquely Albus.

“Morning.”

Albus returned Scorpius’s hug for a moment before pulling away.

“I promised to help Uncle Neville with the flower arrangements for the Yule Ball,” Albus said. “I’ll meet you in the common room at around six.” He leaned in to brush his lips against Scorpius’s cheek. “Okay?”

Scorpius nodded, biting his lip to forbid himself from saying anything embarrassing. Albus smiled and kissed Scorpius’s forehead before leaving.

After that, Scorpius basically spent the day eating and helping out in the Great Hall. Around five pm, the students went to their dorms to get dressed up.

Scorpius took a long and perfunctory shower in the Prefect’s bathroom, then started getting dressed there. Others prefects were also dressing themselves there, but Scorpius didn’t really mind.

When he was ready, he looked apprehensively at his reflection on the mirror. His dark green robes fit him perfectly—he was a Malfoy, after all, _all of his clothes fit him perfectly_ —and his hair, even if a bit longer than usual, was gleaming, soft and perfectly trimmed.

“You look fine, Malfoy,” Louis declared, standing next to Scorpius in all his pretty and punk glory. “Not as fine as me, obviously,” he added and winked at Scorpius through the mirror.

Scorpius sighed. “Thanks, I guess.”

“Al would like it even if you went completely nude,” Louis said, then rolled his eyes. “He’d prefer it, even.”

Scorpius blushed, involuntarily thinking about being naked next to Albus. Louis smirked.

“Have fun!” Louis said, patting Scorpius in the back and leaving the bathroom.

Scorpius cast a _Tempus_. It was already quarter past six. He went to the Slytherin common room, walking at a regular pace because he didn’t want to sweat. When he arrived, he crossed the room to meet Albus, who was fidgeting with something pink in his hands. 

When he got close enough, he put a hand on Albus’s lower back and leaned in to kiss his cheek.

“Hey, Al,” he murmured against Albus’s cheek, smiling when Albus shivered.

“Hi,” Albus whispered, then he showed Scorpius the array of roses in his hand. They were of varying tones of pink. “These, um,” he flushed, looking at anywhere but Scorpius’s face. “It’s for you.”

Scorpius held the flowers close to his chest, feeling warm all over.

“Thank you.” He kissed Albus’s cheeks once again, this time closer to his mouth. “I’ll have to put them in the dorm, though.”

“Nah, I got it.” Albus got his wand out and muttered a spell that made the flowers get into a glass case, then he waved his arm to use a non-verbal spell that made it disappear. “It’ll be on your bedside table.”

Scorpius smiled. “Thanks, babe.”

“Let’s go?” Albus asked, grabbing Scorpius’s hand in his and squeezing.

Scorpius nodded, and they walked towards the Great Hall hand in hand. Getting there, the first thing Scorpius noticed that was different from when he left earlier was the enormous amount of flowers that decorated the walls and the ceiling. The second thing he noticed was the overwhelming, yet not sickening, scent of flowers and plants in general.

“It’s Uncle Neville’s first year as Headmaster, he wants to make a good impression,” Albus confided.

“Congrats to him,” Scorpius said, amazed with how everything looked. “Everything’s wonderful.”

After Scorpius stopped gazing at the decorations, he and Albus found a secluded place to snog in peace before the music started playing. Their first kiss was a bit awkward and rusty, their teeth knocking and making them both bawl with laughter. They quickly got the hang of it, though, licking into each other’s mouths, sucking and biting at each other’s lips and basically trying every possible thing to leave the other hot and bothered.

When the songs started playing and they had to get back into the party, Scorpius seized this opportunity to look around and assess the party. 

Niko and Fred were dancing, Niko caught Scorpius’s eye from across the dancefloor, glanced between him and Albus and winked—Scorpius definitely didn’t blush this time, definitely. Roxanne was, unsurprisingly, dancing wildly with her girlfriend, Zindagi, the loud Slytherin beater who once had picked a fight with Rose. Lily and Hugo were dancing with Lucy Weasley and her datefriend, a Hufflepuff fifth year whose hair was pink. Rose was talking to a Ravenclaw girl who was friends with Niko. Scorpius couldn’t remember her name though, and soon that wasn’t important anymore because seconds later Rose started kissing aforementioned girl. Louis was dancing in an almost inappropriate way, and his date—who turned out to be Vesper, the other Slytherin beater, leader of the Frog Choir, control freak and basically the opposite of everything Louis Weasley stood for—was looking very red in the face.

Scorpius turned to Albus, who was also staring at their dormmate’s desperate face and laughing unabashedly.

“Should we help him?” He asked and Albus shook his head.

“Nah, he’ll survive.” He turned to Scorpius, eyes glinting with mirth. Albus bowed and offered his hand. “May I have this dance?”

Scorpius flushed all over, feeling butterflies flutter in his stomach. Even though the situation was ridiculous at best, Albus was so cute and Scorpius was so, so in love.

He sighed and grabbed Albus’s hand. “Of course, my good sir.”

Albus laughed, then pulled him closer, pressing their bodies together. He started to move in a rhythm that was completely different from the song playing. Scorpius smiled, indulging Albus in his stunt and laying his head on Albus’s shoulder.

They kept kind-of-waltzing in silence for awhile, not really caring about the songs that were playing, or about what other people might think.

“What did the flowers mean, by the way?” Scorpius asked, raising his head to look Albus in the eyes. “Rose seemed to think they had some sort of special reason.”

Albus averted his eyes. Scorpius couldn’t see because of the low lighting, but he was fairly sure that Albus’s cheeks were flushed.

“They basically meant that I feel happy when I’m with you, and that I trust you and that, um—” He pressed his forehead to Scorpius’s shoulder before mumbling, “that I long for you and have a secret love for you.”

Scorpius hugged Albus’s midsection and kissed his neck repeatedly, feeling light-headed with the overwhelming feelings he had for this adorable nerd.

“You’re such a nerd, Albus Potter,” Scorpius whispered against his neck and Albus  
chuckled, raising his head to look at Scorpius. “I can’t believe you confessed through flowers.”

From up close Scorpius could see that Albus’s cheeks were blooming with red, highlighting the dusting of freckles on his face, and he was smiling, his green eyes were sparkling so much that it looked like magic. Scorpius could only feel, could only promise himself to worship this boy as much as he could, could only hope that he’d be able to wake up to that beautiful face everyday, because—

“I love you,” he confessed, and he felt like the world stopped for a moment until Albus smiled once again.

“I love you too,” Albus said, simple and honest. He nuzzled Scorpius’s cheek and bit his jaw playfully.

Scorpius laughed, turned his face to try and bite Albus too. He finally felt like everything was going to be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! You can show your appreciation for the author in a comment here or on [livejournal](http://hp-nextgen-fest.livejournal.com/103054.html).  
> You can also find me on [tumblr](http://regblvck.tumblr.com) or [twitter](https://twitter.com/bunnila) ♡♡♡


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